Locking device for automobiles



A. H. LARDU'SKEY.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR AUTO MOBlLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. 1919.

1,387,651. Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

UNITED STATES ALBERT H. LARDUSKEY, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed March 7, 1919.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. LARDUSKEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Looking Devices for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvemnts in locking devices for automobiles, and has for its object to provide a device which is simple in construction and which is operated in con- 'nection with the brake handle to lock the brakes in the applied position, so that the car cannot be started without first unlocking the said device to release the brakes.

The invention consists of the novel construction and arrangement of the parts and combination of parts hereinafter more fully set forth in the following, specification and pointed out in detail in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention applied to the brake handle.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

F in. 3 is an enlarged vertical section showing the locking plate in the unlocked position, the locked position being indicated by the dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a detail View of the locking plate.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, 1 designates the brake handle to which is bolted the plates 2, the latter being bolted to the plates 3. The said plates 3 are pivoted at their opposite ends to the rod 4 which latter passes through the casing 5 and through the aperture 6 in the locking plate 7. The said locking plate 7 has a flange 8 at its upper end and two shoulders 9 at its lower end. said shoulders 9 being adapted to project into the recesses 10 in the lower end of the easing 5 and hold said locking plate 7 in position therein. Surrounding the rod 4 between the plate 7 and the inner surface of the casing 5 is a coiled spring 11 which holds the said plate 7 normally inclined or in the locked position. By inserting the key 12 into the slot in the upper end of the casing 1 and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

Serial No. 281,198.

then turning it the said key will come into contact with the flange at the upper end of the plate 7 and the latter will be forced back against the action of the coiled spring and held in a vertical position in which position it remains While the car is in operation and which permits the brake handle 1 to be moved back and forth to operate the brakes, but when the key 12 is removed from the casing 1, after being turned, the spring 11 forces the plate 7 over in the inclined position which will permit the brake handle to be pulled back to apply the brakes but will prevent releasing the brakes as the brake handle cannot be moved forward owing to the binding of the plate on the rod 4;. The base plate 13 to which the casing 5 is connected, is secured to the floor of the car by the bolts 14.

It will thus be seen tliat as long as the key is in the casing and turned to the position shown in Fig. 3, the brakes can be applied and released at will, but when the key is removed from the casing the action of the coiled spring 11 against the said plate 7 causes the latter to be forced forward and binds against the rod l so that the brake handle cannot be operated to release the brakes. thereby preventing stealing or unauthorized use of the automobile.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A locking device for automobiles comprising a casing having a key slot in its upper .end and recesses in its lower end, a reciprocating locking plate within said casing and having an aperture therein and provided with two shoulders on its lower end adapted to fit within the recesses in the lower end of said casing, a brake handle. a rod pivoted at one end to said brake handle and having its opposite end projecting through said casing and through the aperture in the locking plate, a spring surrounding said rod between the locking plate and the inner surface of the casing, and a key adapted to fit within the key slot of the said casing and to cooperate with the said plate to hold it in the unlocked position.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ALBERT H. LARDUSKEY. 

